The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of crape-myrtle, the variety being primarily characterized by bright red purple blooms.
The variety is further characterized by:
From spreading to flat-spreading performance having a (hill spread)/(height) ratio of about 1.6, flat-globe form, dwarf habit (about 40 cm height), extremely heavy branching habit and an extremely numerous amount of blooms.
The new crape-myrtle variety originated in 1985 as a seedling resulting from the crossing of a pair of crape-myrtle plants. The seed parent was `Summer And Summer`, Lagerstroemia indica L., which was bred at a research farm in Uchino-cho, Niigate-shi, Niigate-ken, Japan, and the pollen parent was `Issai-Sarusuberi`, Lagerstroemia indica L. This crossing was done at the same research farm as described above in 1984 with the object of producing plants having flowers of different colors from the seed parent, `Summer And Summer.` The seed parent, `Summer And Summer` has been registered under No. 1733 on Aug. 18, 1988, under the Japanese Seed and Seedlings Law. The pollen parent, `Issai-Sarusuberi` is a well-known and popular crape-myrtle plant and is under no protection, such as a patent or plant variety protection certificate. In 1986, the asexual reproduction of this selected seedling was done by me and under my direction at the same research farm as described above by green shoot cutting. Then, observations were made for 2-4 years of grown plants during 1987-1989. The continuous asexual propagation has demonstrated that the novel characteristics would hold true from generation to generation, appear to be firmly fixed, and are transmitted without change through succeeding propagations.
The new crape-myrtle variety differs from its seed parent and pollen parent in the following ways.
______________________________________ New Pollen Variety Seed Parent Parent Summer Summer And Issai- Fantasy Summer Sarusuberi ______________________________________ Tree-Performance spreading flat-spreading upright to flat- spreading (hill spread)/ 1.6 3.0 0.43 (tree height) ratio Tree form flat globe disc obovoid Tree height (cm) dwarf dwarf (20.0) shrub (39.3) (130.0) Branching Habit extremely medium sparse (number of branches heavy 5.8 4.4 on a main trunk) 18.0 Number of extremely medium little inflorescences numerous 5.0 3.5 per one cluster 17.3 Number of flowers per extremely medium medium one inflorescence numerous 32.0 26.0 108.0 Petal color bright red strong vivid red purple purplish pink purple JHS Color JHS Color JHS Color Chart 9506 Chart 9205 or Chart 9507 or RHS RHS Colour Colour Chart 68A, Chart 63B, 68B, 73A 67B, 71C ______________________________________
The new crape-myrtle variety may be reproduced with ease by stem cuttings. Just after root taking, young shoots come out and spread as growth proceeds. The variety becomes to show from spreading to flat-spreading in tree performance and flat globe in tree form, before appearance of flower buds. The tree height of an adult tree is about 40 cm and the hill spread is about 1.6 times the tree height.
The variety shows extremely heavy branching habit and bears extremely numerous flowers and buds. The blooming period of the variety is long, from July to October in Niigate-shi, Niigate-ken, Japan, and in similar climate elsewhere. The variety also shows a good cold hardiness and can overwinter well without being supported with a pole even in a snowy area.